MOUTH GUARDAlison Hoover ’07 keeps the Denver Nuggets’smiles in good working order

BY BENJAMIN GLEISSER

It’s two hours before game time at the Pepsi Center, the arena home of the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, and Alison Hoover ’07, one of the Nuggets’ team dentists, is visiting the locker room to check on the players’ dental health.

As Hoover chats with a few players, especially the ones who have stopped
by the office for prior appointments, she glances at their mouths. Everything
seems fine. She’ll check back again during halftime, then pay one more visit to
the locker room after the game. Unless a player chips a tooth while taking an
elbow to the face, or a loose ball accidentally bounces off his jaw, she’ll sit on
the sidelines with other medical professionals employed by the Nuggets and
enjoy the game like any other spectator.